Hermione's Cinderella Story
by Fairy Roses
Summary: Just as the title suggests. She is, along with all her fellow students, under a spell that lasts until midnight. So what will happen when she learns who her Prince Charming really is? HGDM. ONESHOT.


Writer's block much? Yeah, that's me. I can't seem to finish the last chapter of the story I'm working on right now, and my muse has been pushing this story around for about a year now. Well, since I'm not making any headway on the other one, I'm finally putting this into writing. Oneshot. I don't really have time for a full-fledged story.

I wrote this all in one night. Heh. Don't worry! I proofread it the next morning.

This fic takes place mid-HBP. Just a short interlude that really has no relevance the sixth book other than... it's their sixth year.

Hermione's Cinderella Story

"Enough!" Albus Dumbledore's voice boomed in the Great Hall above all the chaos. Students at all four tables froze, most in the middle of throwing their dinner across the room. "Prefects. Up here. Now. The rest of you, go to your common rooms. Filius, Pomona, Severus, Minerva," he turned to the four Heads of Houses. "Go see if you can get a coherent story from the students, then report back here."

The Great Hall bustled with movement at the Headmaster's words. Among the confusion, Hermione Granger, a Sixth Year, and a Gryffindor prefect, began to march up to the Head Table. "Ron," she yelled over her shoulder to a tall redheaded boy.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Ron sounded less than enthused. "Later, Harry," he said to the boy standing next to him.

"Good luck," Harry replied.

Ron followed Hermione. Moments later, the hall was empty save for Dumbledore and the handful of prefects. "Does anybody care to explain?" He asked with as much patience as he could muster. None of the students had ever seen him like this.

Hermione's hand shot into the air.

Ron's mouth gaped in disbelief. "Hermione, don't," he began to whipser.

"Why not, Ron? I, for one, am sick and tired of this, this... this," she said angrily, brushing bits of somebody's dinner off her sleeve. "This is absolutely ridiculous, and it needs to be taken care of right now."

"I agree," came Pansy Parkinson's voice. She looked at Dumbledore. "This was all Harry Potter's fault, and he should be expelled."

"It was not Harry's fault!" A chorus of Gryffindors yelled. "It was that slimy git, Draco Malfoy," Ron added.

It was the Slytherins' turn to protest indignantly.

Dumbledore held up a hand. "Am I to understand that this began between Slytherin and Gryffindor?"

The students nodded.

Dumbledore calmed his voice. "Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, you are dismissed. Tell Professors Sprout and Flitwick they may be lenient. As for the rest of you," his tone changed. "I demand an explanation."

Hermione's hand shot back into the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"You're not going to listen to her, are you?" Pansy asked, scowling at Hermione. "You know she'll just lie to protect Potter."

Hermione glared. "And _you_ wouldn't do that for Draco?"

"Silence," Dumbledore commanded. "So, now we're getting somewhere. Did this entire thing begin between Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter?"

Again, the students nodded.

"Was anybody else involved in the initial... events?"

"No, sir," a few answered.

"Right. Go retrieve those two boys, then. Parkinson and Granger, since you seem ready to voice your own views of what happened, you're staying with me."

The girls glowered at each other.

"You know Draco didn't start it," Pansy nearly growled at Hermione.

"Yeah, I know."

"And don't think that just because- wait... What?"

"I said I know. Harry started it, but Malfoy didn't have to respond the way he did."

"Are you saying this is Draco's fault?"

"No. I'm saying they're both stupid."

Pansy, much to Hermione's surprise, shrugged. "I guess I can live with that."

They stood and waited until Draco and Harry returned. They formed two lines, facing each other. Harry stood by Hermione and Draco next to Pansy. Dumbledore walked into the middle. In a way, the scene reminded Hermione of some sort of trial. Dumbledore took his time looking into each of the students' eyes. He finally pointed at Draco.

"You," he said shortly. "Begin. No embellishments, just facts."

"Potter started it. He sent me a note that was indecent, to say the least."

"Do you still have the note?"

"Well, no," Draco began.

"No, he sent it back to me with something even more 'indecent' written in it."

"You had it coming, Potter!" Draco snarled.

"Silence," the Headmaster hushed the bickering. "Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson, do you agree about the unpleasantness of the note?"

They both nodded. Hermione glanced at Harry as he made a surly face.

"Detention. Three nights. For both of you. I do not care what the contents of the note said, I only ask that they never be discussed again. Now, about the food. Who began that?"

"Somebody threw something at Draco, but missed," Pansy began.

"I think it came from the Ravenclaw table. They did it after Harry and Malfoy were standing up and yelling across the room," Hermione finished.

At that moment, McGonagall and the other heads entered the Great Hall.

"Excuse me for a moment, I must go speak to your professors. I will be right back."

As soon as Dumbledore was out of earshot, Harry spoke to Draco. "Admit it, Malfoy. You _are _jealous of me."

Draco smirked. "The most powerful evil wizard alive is your worst enemy. Why would I be jealous of you?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're feeling some regret about which side you chose? It didn't pan out too well for your father, did it?"

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Draco took a breath to steady his anger. "Believe it or not, Potter," he spat, "I have no interest in getting into any more rows with you. That little threat of your's was stupid anyway. You're not worth it."

"Then why did you even reply in the first place?"

"Pride," Draco answered simply.

Hermione could almost see the sparks flying from Harry's brilliant green eyes and Draco's stormy grey eyes. Since school began, Hermione had warned Harry against instigating a fight with Draco Malfoy. Did he listen, though? Of course not. Every chance he got, he would drop one awful comment or another. It wasn't as if Hermione disagreed with Harry's words, but his constant immaturity about the matter frayed her nerves. She was so frustrated with their never-ending bickering that she could not stop herself. "Whoa, boys. Do I need to get a ruler?" Hermione, rather unexpectedly, asked in a harsh voice.

Pansy broke off into a fit of giggles and Draco and Harry gaped at her.

Draco recovered first. With something almost like admiration, he said, "Granger? When did you ever get so cheeky?"

"Did I miss the joke?" Dumbledore returned.

None of them said a word.

xxxx

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY MEETING

FRIDAY NIGHT

MEET IN GREAT HALL PROMPTLY AT 8PM

ATTENDANCE REQUIRED BY ALL 5TH, 6TH, AND 7TH YEARS

YOUNGER STUDENTS PROHIBITED

DON'T EXPECT TO RETURN TO YOUR COMMON ROOM UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT

The Hogwarts Crest appeared in the top corner of the poster and Dumbledore's seal of approval at the bottom.

"Wow," Ron finally said after he and his friends read the poster. "Dumbledore means business. A meeting for all of us? Just because of one lousy food fight?"

xxxx

The meeting was unlike any the students had ever been to, and beyond all of their imaginations. First of all, upon arrival at the Great Hall, they were separated not by house, but by gender. The boys were ushered to one side of the hall and the girls to the other. Then, all the students were issued a rather odd package, the contents of which were as follows: a quite obviously muggle outfit, muggle shoes, a pin with a name on it, a quill, a piece of parchment, a flask full of an unidentified liquid, and a small piece of folded cloth.

They then stood against the wall and faced the middle of the room. Much to everybody's surprise, they could no longer see the entire Great Hall. Instead, a wall had been erected before them. There were six doors in the wall. Six students were chosen at random to go through the doors.

When it was Hermione's turn to go, she found herself in a small room. The door she'd come through had vanished, but there was a door on the opposite wall. She noticed something written on another wall:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY MEETING

"You will be spending the evening with your fellow classmates. The only hitch is that you will not know who is who. You will not be able to recall other students' names, nor will you be able to say your own. You are in no danger. The Headmaster has approved of this due to the increasing hostility between houses. Have fun!"

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Open the parcel you were given. Remove the flask and the folded piece of cloth. Take the lid off the flask. That is Polyjuice Potion. Unfold the cloth. There is a hair in it. Put the hair in the flask.

2. Undress. Don't worry, nobody can see you.

3. Drink the Polyjuice Potion. The effects will last a little more than four hours. Disregard what you may have learned and do not argue. I, Dumbledore, have the ability be awesome like that.

4. Dress yourself in the muggle clothing. Put the pin on the front of your shirt. That is the name everyone will refer to you as tonight. Put your robes in the bag.

5. Use the quill to write on the parchment. At the top, put your name. Your REAL name. (i.e. _Not _the name that is on the pin.) Put the quill and parchment back into the bag.

6. Put your wand and any other personal items in the bag. Deposit them in the basket that just appeared behind you. You will find your belongings safely on your bed at the end of the night. (If the basket did not appear, review steps 1-5 to make sure you did them correctly.)

7. There is a mild truth spell on you right now. It is only there to ensure you are completely honest about what kind of person you are. The only pretense is in your appearance. Try to learn to open up to another person's mind, another person's soul. Mingle.

8. You cannot exit this room until you follow all of the instructions.

"We took a lot of time preparing for this. We stole hairs and clothing from countless muggles and perfected several different charms for your benefits. Please, take advantage of the opportunity you've been given."

Hermione left the room. The Polyjuice Potion turned her into an athletic-looking muggle with long brown hair, many shades lighter than her own. There were no mirrors, so Hermione could not see her face. She looked down at the pin on her chest. "Anne," it read. Hermione laughed to herself. A name with only one syllable that everybody in the entire world could probably pronounce... she could definitely deal with that until midnight.

The first few minutes Hermione spent trying to engage herself in different conversations with different groups of girls. That did not work very well. The girls seemed fine, she could have easily gotten along with them, but they were talking about things Hermione would not usually wish to talk about. The mild truth spell did not allow her to stay in the conversations very long. She could not pretend to be interested in what they said. Hermione found herself wandering to the outskirts of the crowd. She noticed a group of male and female students talking. Maybe she would feel more comfortable there? She was about to approach them when someone walked up to her.

"Hi," he greeted her. Normally Hermione have stared at how handsome he was, but she reminded herself of the Polyjuice Potion. Well... that was some _mild _truth spell, not even allowing her senses to be fooled.

"Hi," Hermione smiled. She stared at the pin on his shirt. "Leon."

He looked down to inspect the pin himself. "Oh yeah," he said, then looked at hers. "Anne. I saw you standing over here by yourself, and I thought I might join you for a bit. I was actually just talking to some other guy, and we were getting along fine. But I think he had one of those irresistable personalities, and people just kept coming over to talk. I'm not really too great with crowds. I don't like to open up to a lot of people."

"I'm the same way," Hermione agreed. "I mean, I can talk in front of people, no problem. But I'm not about to let my guard down around so many."

"I don't think they are, either," Leon pointed at the other students. "They probably just feel more comfortable in those big groups. Honestly, half of the things they were saying, it just seemed so superficial."

"I got that feeling, too. Like, even though right now nobody knows who's who, they're all afraid to discuss something more," Hermione struggled to find a word.

"Meaningful," Leon offered.

"Exactly. I mean, talking about something like shoes is fine and all," she indicated a group of girls, "but... not when an opportunity like this presents itself. We can really get to know each other right now, and they're too busy comparing each other's tastes in clothes. I mean, I hate to sound like an elitist, but please."

"You know," Leon looked thoughtful. "I think we'll get along just fine."

And they did. They stayed in each other's company the rest of the night. They had so much to talk about (books they've read, theories they've made, strong opinions they had, etc.) that they forgot to "mingle" with the other students. They'd lost complete track of time. They sat talking outside on a bench and did not even realize when it was almost midnight.

"This is great," Hermione said. Her cheeks were beginning to hurt. She'd been smiling almost the entire evening. Even during their several friendly debates.

"It really is," he agreed. "I mean, I can't believe that I've never met you. I don't think I have, at least. I would have remembered somebody as smart and witty as you. Hell, I would have sought you out if I only knew who you were. I want to talk to you again. After tonight. You have a penchant for knowledge which I find fascinating. I don't believe I know many people like you. You actually make me think."

Hermione nodded. "And you don't find that annoying at all?"

"Annoying? How could such brilliance ever be annoying?"

She shook her head. She got the feeling some people thought it was, but a spell kept her from remembering whom. Hermione was suddenly aware that she was much closer to her companion now. Not only that, but he had an arm around her shoulders. Hermione turned her head slightly and could see his softly smiling face. She closed her eyes and moved closer to him. Their lips met.

The clock struck midnight.

They quickly parted. They could hear McGonagall yelling outside for any stragglers to get themselves inside right away.

Hermione was unexpectedly pulled to her feet and into another kiss, this time more daring, more passionate. She longed for the clock to stop right there, for time to freeze in that moment. That single kiss felt more real to her than anything else ever had. It was almost as if their entire beings were enraptured by the kiss. It felt so right She did not want this night to end.

Unfortunately... It had to.

"I'll find you again," he whispered to Hermione as they walked inside, holding hands. "I need to."

Dumbledore stood at the front of the Great Hall, and held everyone's attention. "I hope you all had fun tonight," he said. "In case you are wondering, you will be able to see who it is you spent your time with tonight. Remember that piece of parchment you wrote your name on? You will find it on your bed in your dormitory with the names of the people you talked to tonight. The people whose company you enjoyed most will be at the top of the list. I hope you enjoy this. The potion will wear off as soon as you are in your rooms. Good night."

The hall emptied. Hermione, like most of the other students, hurried to the common room. They still could not tell who was who, nor could they even remember who they might be. Hermione and two other girls reached her room at the same time. The change occurred, the spells broke, and she realized those two girls were Lavender and Parvatti. Of course. The girls rushed to change into their own pajamas (the muggle clothes no longer fit comfortably) and immediately began to read their lists.

Lavender and Parvatti squealed.

"You're at the top of my list, Parvatti!"

"You're at the top of mine, Lav! Then there's Cho, Katie, Pansy, now there's a surprise, Marietta, my sister, of course," Parvatti rattled off the rest of the names on her list. Apparently, Lavender's sounded very similar.

"Who's on your list, Hermione?" Lavender inquired.

Hermione's face was pale as she looked up from her parchment. She tried to smile but only achieved a half-grin that made her look insane. "Draco Malfoy," she finally said.

Nobody said a word the rest of the night.

xxxx

Well, obviously, that was either the hormones, or the spells, or the charms, or the potion working when _Draco_ had said that he 'needed' to find Hermione again. If anything, he avoided her more than usual. Well of course. What did she expect? His parchment had probably baffled him as much as her own had. It was mad to think that that one night could mean something.

At least, that's what Hermione was thinking. What she was feeling, on the other hand, was that it did not matter to her that she had spent that wonderful evening with Draco Malfoy. What mattered was that she could not stop thinking about him. They had a connection, she could feel it. She wished he would have been somebody else, anybody else, but that didn't change reality. He was Draco Malfoy, pureblood, Slytherin, prick. And she was Hermione Granger, muggleborn, Gryffindor, goody-goody.

And they were perfect for each other. Day and night. Light and dark. They complemented each other in every way.

xxxx

The next few days, The List was all anybody could about. Hermione was walking in the hall with Ron and Harry as Harry talked about his own. "Yeah, I was surprised to see Malfoy's name on my list. It wasn't at the very top, but it was closer than I would have ever guessed."

"That it made it _on_ the paper is closer than anyone would have guessed," Ron chimed in.

Hermione slowed down. Harry and Ron continued walking as if they hadn't noticed she was no longer beside them. She didn't take it personally. They were preoccupied. She veered left to head to the library, but before she made it there, she was pulled by a strong grip into an empty classroom.

There stood Draco. He held the piece of parchment which Hermione guessed was his List. She saw her name at the top.

"Hey, we need to talk," Draco said. His eyes looked so cold. "Four hours doesn't change a thing," he declared matter-of-factly.

"I thought you'd say that," Hermione admitted with mixed feelings. Had she really expected him to want to talk to her again? "So, it was nice talking to you, have a pleasant life," she began to walk away but Draco grabbed her by the wrist.

She turned to look Draco square in the eye. "Like I was saying," he finally said. "Four hours doesn't change a thing. So, if it's okay with you, I would like to see you again. Or, talk to you again, rather, since I really didn't see _you_ the first time," his expression became warmer and something almost like a smile appeared on his lips. "So, what do you say?"

Hermione pulled her wrist away from him. "Why?"

It wasn't what he'd expected to hear, nor was it what she'd expected to say. It just... came out.

"Because of all the reasons I explained to you the other night. Only now the feeling is stronger because that conversation was like," he seemed desperate to find the right words, any words, "like tasting chocolate for the first time. Now that I realize how much I enjoyed it, I'm craving more."

Hermione stayed quiet for a long time. Could she take the risk? She supposed it wasn't as if she had nothing to gain and everything to lose, quite the opposite, really. But what could she and Draco Malfoy _possibly_ have to talk about? That one night was fine, of course, they were more or less censored by Dumbledore's spells. Then Hermione remembered the feeling she'd had when he'd kissed her. It was as if their very souls were cheering with approval.

She needed to know if it would still feel like that. She took a step to close the gap between them. She put her hands on his shoulders and stood on her toes to kiss him. It came almost as a surprise when Draco did not pull away in disgust. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Maybe he felt the same way.

"I didn't know you liked chocolate," Hermione finally said with a smile.

Draco laughed. "Well, you learn something new everyday."

With a bold smirk, Hermione responded, "I hope so."

xxxx

END! No prequel, no sequel, no point to the story, really. Just something I felt like doing. I'm pleased with it, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Note: The reason I made Draco's Polyjuice name "Leon" was because, here's my thinking, Draco means dragon. Powerful creature. Hogwarts related? Lion. Leon... That was, more or less, the connection my mind made. In case you were curious.

Oh yeah, before I forget. I didn't know if I made it clear or not, but the boy that Draco was talking to before he found Hermione (if you remember me mentioning that) was in fact Harry. Yeah. I thought I'd throw some more irony in there.


End file.
